DENVER, Colorado — My big, fragrant Oriental lilies are blooming on the patio. Fortunately, Japanese beetles aren't interested in them.
I have very few beetles in my garden. This shows that treating my lawn back in spring worked - no dead patches in the lawn means no beetle production. The beetles I'm dealing with are coming from my neighbors who didn't treat their lawns for grubs. I'm determined to hold the line at the perimeter, where they're feasting on sacrificial Virginia creeper.
Soap is the best Earth-friendly insecticide. Pour two or three tablespoons of a pure liquid soap in a quart spray bottle of water. I use Dr. Bronner's soap. You cannot use a dish washing soap that has detergent in it because you'll burn the leaves of plants you spray.
Shake and spray. You must make direct hits on the beetles. The soap gums up the beetles' wings and they're finished. Spraying is much easier and effective than hand-picking or using pesticides. I make several trips a day to areas where the beetles congregate. The idea is to kill as many as possible before they can reproduce.
In the meantime, I'm enjoying the heavenly fragrance of the lilies, particularly at night. Other members of the lily family blooming now include charming pineapple liles (Eucomis), pink alliums and lily-of-the-Nile. We're deadheading re-blooming daylilies such as 'Happy Returns' to encourage a second show later in summer.
More Proctor's Garden:
> Top stories curated daily just for you! Sign up for the 9NEWSLETTER to get can’t-miss stories, Next and Broncos content, weather and more delivered right to your inbox.
9NEWS+
9NEWS+ has multiple live daily shows including 9NEWS Mornings, Next with Kyle Clark and 9NEWS+ Daily, an original streaming program. 9NEWS+ is where you can watch live breaking news, weather updates, and press conferences. You can also replay recent newscasts and find videos on demand of our top stories, local politics, investigations and Colorado specific features.
To download 9NEWS+ on Roku search for KUSA.
To download 9NEWS+ on Fire TV search for 9NEWS.